Thursday, December 10, 2015

Bob Sprankle, Creative Genius

For a few months this year, Math Playground had the good fortune to collaborate with Bob Sprankle on a number of projects. While the team may have only doubled in size, its passion and creativity more than quadrupled. Bob's energy seemed limitless and his enthusiasm was powerfully infectious. I was excited about Math Playground's future in a way I hadn't felt before. Passion was the very essence of Bob. He gave 100% to everything he did. You heard it in his podcasts. You felt it during his presentations. You saw it in his art. That was one of Bob's greatest gifts. His passion inspired all of us to do better, to accomplish more than we ever imagined possible.

My very first encounter with Bob was a bit unusual. The
year was 2007 and, like many in the ed-tech community, I was spending a lot of
time exploring the potential of virtual worlds. One day, an avatar named Bisto
Bock flew into my neighborhood and landed on my roof. We started talking about children
and programming and the many ways that technology was going to transform
education. Eventually, I learned I had been talking to Bob Sprankle who I'd
known from his Bit by Bit blog and podcasts. Shortly after, we had the
opportunity to meet face to face at the BLC conference in Boston. We stayed in touch over
the years, keeping up with one another's projects.

About a year ago, I began to notice Bob's artwork. I told
Bob how much I loved his drawings and asked him if he'd like to create
illustrations for children's games. Boy, did he ever! Bob could hardly
contain his excitement. Over the next few weeks, our simple collaboration grew
into a partnership and Bob became the Creative Director at Math Playground. He
was on top of the world. Bob found a job where he could do the things he loved,
for the students he loved, from the comfort of his home. It was a blessing for
both of us. I was thrilled to be working with someone as creative, passionate,
and knowledgeable as Bob. We poured our hearts and souls into this new
collaboration - math podcasts, the Zainy Brain series, animated puppet shows and math comics. I could hardly keep pace with all the innovative ideas Bob shared. It was an exciting time.

Over the next couple of months, Bob's pain grew
increasingly difficult to manage. Eventually, he had to stop working altogether. This realization was hard on Bob. He had such high hopes and our collaboration seemed
to be the answer to so many of his concerns. The silver lining was that our
friendship was able to grow in new ways. Without work to discuss, our conversations
turned to music and movies, art, books, Golden Retrievers, philosophy and
religion. We became good friends.

For the past two days, I've done nothing but grieve the
loss of my friend. I've felt an incredible emptiness. I've been hard on myself for not doing more for him. But now it's time to be grateful. I thank God that his suffering has ended. I'm happy that Bob is finally at peace. I'm grateful I was there for him during the
most difficult and painful year of his life. Bob, in turn, has left an indelible mark
on me. I'm a far better person for having known such a sweet and gentle soul.

And Bob has left an indelible mark on the world. Thanks
to caring friends like Wes Fryer, we will forever enjoy Bob's podcasts, writings and
creativity. His music, art, and photography will likewise be preserved. As a
result, Bob will continue to inspire educators for years to come and countless
students will benefit.

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About the Author

Colleen King is a math educator with 15 years experience working with K-12 students in a variety of settings. Colleen publishes MathPlayground.com and develops math games, teaching tools, and learning resources that are used in classrooms throughout the world. She has presented her work at ISTE and NCTM conferences and has co-authored several teaching articles.